


super-secret ANBU mission

by justlikenart



Category: Naruto
Genre: Anbu Hatake Kakashi, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Uzumaki Kushina-centric, everyone needs a mom-adjacent person to cry on trust me, kushina watching out for her shitty adopted son
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-08
Updated: 2020-09-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:08:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,158
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26363950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justlikenart/pseuds/justlikenart
Summary: Kakashi is assigned a vital mission of the utmost importance. Kushina is not amused.
Relationships: Namikaze Minato/Uzumaki Kushina
Comments: 2
Kudos: 67





	super-secret ANBU mission

She’s eating dinner with her husband when she notices it. A slight ping of her chakra alerts her to an intruder near their home. She doesn’t stop eating. It’s a small alarm, which means that the intruder is someone they know and have allowed inside before. She takes a bite of the gyoza held between her chopsticks and casts her awareness out toward the intruder.

She sees the figure fairly quickly. Whoever they are, they’re doing a pretty good job of concealing their presence. They’ve dampened their chakra so much that she’d probably only sensed it because she was actively looking for it. But once she does find it, she recognizes it instantly. 

The figure’s wearing an ANBU mask, white and red and patterned to look vaguely like a dog. He’s wearing a cloak too, pulled over his head. 

Probably to hide his distinctive, gravity-defying white hair. It was a good idea in practise.

But Kushina Uzumaki is smarter than him, no matter how annoyingly gifted he might be. She wasn’t about to be outsmarted by a baby. 

Even that baby.

She places her chopsticks down gingerly, not wanting to give her little shadow any hint that she’s onto him before she has a talk with her husband. “Minato,” she starts slowly.

Minato full body flinches. Honestly, it’s cute. And not quite unfounded. She isn’t known as the Red Hot Habanero for nothing, and her husband knows her temper better than anyone.

She stifles her giggle, because it is really fun to mess with him and make him think she’s furious.

“What’s one-” and she cuts herself off, fun forgotten. She’d been about to say what’s one of your brats doing outside our house. 

But there weren’t plural brats anymore. Just the one.

She had to move on then, because thinking about those kids- no, no, she couldn’t.

“Uh,” she started once again. “What’s Kakashi doing out there?”

Minato looked guilty. That was another thing she loved about her husband. The man, clever as he was, was an open book. 

Thinking about that was a good distraction.

“Oh, is Kakashi here?” Minato tried. Bad liar. He was smiling way too much, and his right arm had traveled up and began to rub nervously at the back of his neck.

“Why is he here?” she pressed, deciding not to indulge in any obvious lying for now.

Minato sighed, dropping his arm. His expression fell, from a false smile to a resigned and serious expression. “I’m worried about him,” he explained. “He- well, we lost our team. He’s not taking it well.”

Kushina snorted. Of course he wasn’t taking it well. That kid was a terror and a half even before this. No, that wasn’t fair. She hadn’t ever liked him all that much, but she understood where he was coming from.

She still found him abrasive, rude, and a condescending little asshole, but that didn’t matter. He was still just a snot-nosed kid. 

A kid who’d lost almost everyone close to him. So she should be nice to him now. She should look out for him, at least a little bit. Even if she didn’t really want to.

“And how is creeping in our bushes helping him?” she asked pointedly, getting right to business. 

“Oh, well.... I thought I would keep him nearby. Keep him from going on missions for a while. This is probably the only way he’d agree to that, though.” He laughed awkwardly. “I, uh, assigned him to the ANBU Black Ops.”

That. That was not what she was expecting. She’d seen the mask, yes, but… assigning a 14 year old boy to ANBU? 

Kakashi was a skilled ninja, sure, but he was still just a kid. He didn’t belong in ANBU, hunting down traitors and doing the village’s dirty work.

“You did what now?” she asked, not quite believing it even now. Because if she knew Kakashi Hatake well enough to know he wasn’t suited for ANBU, Minato definitely had to understand that.

“It’s not permanent!” Minato said defensively. “Just until he gets better.”

“You put him in ANBU so he would get better? Are you serious?” 

“No! Well, yes. I did do that. But I have a plan!” Minato leaned forward, shoving his plate of gyoza to the side. “I’m having him guard you until you’re ready to, uh…” His eyes traveled down to her stomach. He stared, even though she was still in the first trimester and there was really nothing to see. 

“Give birth?” she supplied, smirking. Men were ridiculous, getting all squeamish and awkward about the smallest little things.

“Yeah,” said Minato, blushing deeply. “Once that happens, I’ll take him out of ANBU. I just want to keep him close until at least then. If he thinks he has a mission to guard you then he’ll stay around.”

It was a good plan, she had to admit. Kakashi didn’t like being treated like a kid, so Minato had manipulated him into thinking he was carrying out an important mission. 

And, judging by his unmoved presence in their yard, it was working.

“Fine,” said Kushina, not wanting to admit aloud that he was right. “I guess that makes some sense, ya know.”

Minato laughed softly. “It makes a lot of sense. I just want to keep him safe.” And at that, he became somber once again. It was like a dark cloud passed over his face- his brows were drawn closely together, his eyes became haunted, and he stared off into some dark place only he could see. “I can’t lose him, too.”

She understood. 

She stood up, went around the table and gently laid her palm on his cheek. He leaned into it with a sigh and closed his eyes, accepting the comfort she offered him.

“You won’t,” she promised. “He’s a clever little bastard, he can take care of himself just fine. But if you really want to take care of him…” she trailed off, waiting for his eyes to open and him to make eye contact with her. “You should invite him inside. He doesn’t have to hide in the shadows just because he’s in ANBU. He’ll get cold out there, too.”

He smiled fondly at her. “You always think of everything,” he said. And then he frowned, although Kushina noted that it was more of a thoughtful expression than the misery and grief she’d seen earlier. “Do we have any leftovers?” he asked, seeing both their emptied plates from dinner.

“We’ll find something,” she assured him. 

Then a thought came to her, and she pulled her lips back and bared her teeth in a devilish smile. “Say, do you mind if I’m the one that goes and fetches him?”

Minato knew that look, and knew his student was in for it. “Sure,” he said, half-hoping that whatever she was planning on doing to him would break him out of his misery, at least a little bit.

She was gone almost before he finished replying.

Kushina had used the body flicker technique to appear instantly at one of her seals. She closed her eyes, locating Kakashi’s chakra signature instantly. He hadn’t seemed to notice she’d left the house yet, hadn’t moved from where he’d first settled down.

She crept up on him easily. The boy didn’t suspect a thing.

Not even when she wove a quick hand seal and a huge wave of water fell directly onto his masked and hooded head.

To his credit, he didn’t seem to react much. He stayed still as the water rushed over him, using a body flicker of his own to get away from the onslaught.

But Kushina was onto him. She had already set up quite a number of traps near their home and Kakashi, smart though he was, was not quick enough to evade them all.

He was caught in the Earth Style: Headhunter jutsu before he could weave another sign.

She couldn’t see his expression behind the Hound mask, but she could just imagine the affronted look on his smug little face. She pumped her fist in triumph and then pointed at him accusingly. 

“Don’t you know it’s rude to spy on people, Hatake?” she yelled, getting right in his face.

The mask gave her nothing. The boy behind it simply stared. She found it a little disconcerting, especially when she was able to catch a flash of his spinning red sharingan in the darkened eye-hole. 

“It’s also rude to ignore people. If you won’t answer I think I’ll just leave you here for a while.” She turned around and made to leave, but a small voice stopped her.

“How did you know?” 

Well, it was a start anyway. She smiled where Kakashi couldn’t see it, then turned around and plastered an arrogant look on her face. She wanted to give the impression that Kakashi was barely worth her time. “Have some respect for your betters, brat. I sensed you immediately. You didn’t hide very well.”

“No.”

She blinked, taken aback. For a moment, she wanted to be offended, but she remembered how Kakashi tended to be blunt and a man of very few words (unless arguing with his peers, of course).“No? No what?”

“How did you know it was me?” he asked, clarifying.

She laughed in his face at that. Sure, it was a little mean (okay it was quite mean), but Kushina was doing him a favor in the long run. 

“An ANBU agent the size of a pea? And with that hair? Who else could it be,” she said, once she’d finished laughing.

“I’m not small,” he argued, although that was a very funny thing to hear from just a head with no body. And from Kakashi, who at his tallest still only came to Kushina’s elbow. 

She laughed at him again, and thought that it really was a shame she couldn’t see his expression. He had to look very funny under his ANBU mask.

“Do they even make ANBU uniforms in your size?” she asked him, genuinely curious about his answer.

“...Yes,” he said.

She didn’t fully believe him, but she’d let it go for now.

But she wasn’t planning on letting him go. She reached down and grabbed the kid’s shoulder, pulling him out of her jutsu. He yelped in surprise, then struggled wildly when she slung him over her shoulder instead of putting him down.

“Let me go!” he cried, flailing his limbs around.

He was acting like a kid, but he was a kid. She’d forgive him for this, even as she marched into their home while he squirmed and writhed in her grasp.

Minato didn’t even look phased when she burst through the door and tossed her ward onto the couch. 

He managed to twist and land lightly on his feet, surprising Kushina somewhat. She’d kinda forgotten that he was a jonin-level ninja. She thought then that she’d probably only handled him so easily because she’d caught him completely off guard.

“Ah, Kakashi!” said Minato, coming over with a plate and some of their leftover gyoza and rice. “Welcome! Do you want some food?”

As soon as Kakashi caught sight of Minato, he bowed slightly and immediately began babbling “M-Minato sensei! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-”

“Why are you apologizing? You’re here as our guest, although we didn’t seem to leave you much of a choice did we?” Minato smiled. “Sorry.”

Kakashi didn’t know what to do. He just stood very still, his hands mindlessly taking the plate of food Minato shoved at him.

“Take off the mask if you want,” Minato said, trying very hard not to make it sound like an order. 

Kakashi’s hand flew up almost immediately, pulling the porcelain mask free from his face. 

He looked...well, older. Kushina hadn’t seen him up close in a good few weeks, but he looked like he’d aged considerably in that time. The shadows under his eyes were more pronounced than ever, hard lines present on his face she’d never seen before. He didn’t look like he was sleeping much, if at all. 

He was in a sorry state. 

“Sit down,” said Kushina, trying very hard to make it sound like an order.

And to her delight, he did, his knees immediately bending and dropping him like a stone onto their futon. He blinked, and she noticed how slowly his eyes closed and opened again.

He’d probably pass out on their couch if they let him.

Kushina looked at Minato, lifting one eyebrow. He met her gaze and nodded, and disappeared.

“You hungry?” Kushina asked the kid on her couch.

He shook his head.

She didn’t believe that, but she knew from experience that depression could really mess with a person’s sense of hunger. So she nodded, and accepted the plate when Kakashi handed it back to her.

“That’s okay, you don’t have to eat anything, ya know,” she told him, uncharacteristically gentle. 

He didn’t reply, but she had expected that. He’d always been hard to talk to. She let silence lapse between them for a few moments, before Minato returned with a blanket and pillow.

“Here,” he said, holding them out to his student. 

Kakashi took them, then stared at Minato, obviously confused. “Sensei, what- why are you doing this?”

Minato shrugged casually. “You look like you could use a nap, that’s all.”

“I’m not tired,” Kakashi lied.

“Sure,” Kushina interjected. “Well. Minato and I are very tired, so we’re going to go to bed. You’re welcome to stay as long as you want. Good night.”

They didn’t normally go to bed this early, of course, but Kakashi didn’t know that. He just sat and watched while Minato and Kushina left him alone to go into their own bedroom.

He resolved to get up and leave as soon as they did, but…

This futon was so comfortable, and he was a little bit worn out. Maybe he could just sit for a few minutes…

Fifteen minutes later, when Kushina came to check on their young ward, she found him slumped over and out like a light.

He looked younger while sleeping. Like the fourteen year old boy he should have been, instead of the quasi-adult he was being forced to become. 

She smiled fondly despite herself. Kakashi was a weird kid, but he was growing on her apparently.

She gently moved his sleeping body so he was laying down, putting the pillow under him and the blanket over him. He didn’t so much as stir.

Well, he didn’t so much as stir for a few moments. But almost as soon as she stood up and made to leave, she heard him move.

She turned to look and saw him twitching, writhing under the blanket. A low cry escaped his lips and she noticed with alarm that he was crying.

She didn’t know what to do. Minato, bless that bastard, had actually fallen asleep.

She could do this. She was going to be a mother soon anyway, so she might as well get some practise in.

She sat on the futon, below Kakashi’s feet and waited. She knew shinobi, knew better than to wake a dangerous ninja from a nightmare.

Even if the ninja was just a kid and too young for the anguish on his face.

“Kakashi,” she said firmly. “Wake up.” Screw letting him wake up on his own. She’d wake him up herself. But she still knew better than to try and shake him physically.

He didn’t, and she tried again. “Kakashi,” she said, louder this second time.

His eyes flew open, his regular dark grey eye looking normal.

But the other, the one he’d lost and then gotten from Obito, was bright with unshed tears. He flinched away from her, tugging the blanket closer and hiding beneath it.

Her heart broke for him, just a little. He had no coping mechanisms, he just shoved his issues to the side and ignored them. His brain, needing some resolution, would replay it during the only time he wasn’t forcing the memories aside.

She needed to break him out of the cycle, she reasoned. Get his awake brain to work on the problem so his asleep brain could catch a break.

But Kakashi had just a little too much experience pushing his problems aside. It had probably started when his father had died, and he certainly hadn’t developed any coping habits since then.

She still had to try.

“Nightmare?” she asked simply, unsure how cooperative he would be.

“I’m fine,” he insisted. Not denying it. But pushing it away.

“You’re not,” she said. “But that’s okay. You don’t have to be fine.”

He stared at her then, bewildered. He’d probably never heard anything like that before in his life.

“You’re allowed to be not fine, Kakashi,” she told him, scooting just a little bit closer. She felt a rush of triumph when he didn’t move farther away from her. In fact, he leaned toward her. Just a bit. But enough to let her know he was listening to what she had to say. 

“You’ve just lost someone very important to you,” she started. He looked away, but she continued. “It’s okay to grieve. In fact, you should. It’s healthy.”

She didn’t know what else to say. So she sat, still and silent, while Kakashi was lost in his own mind.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of silence, he cleared his throat quietly and said, “Shinobi aren’t supposed to have feelings,” he said quietly. He didn’t sound like he was arguing, which was new with him. His adherence to the rules was the one thing Kushina disliked about him the most. But she understood that this time, he was just thinking out loud.

“I know. But it’s a stupid rule,” Kushina told him, taking delight in his shocked look at that. “You’re still a person, shinobi or not. And people have feelings, like it or not.”

He huffed. “I don’t like it,” he admitted.

She nudged him gently with her elbow. “Tough luck,” she said. “That’s just how it is.”

He sighed, and Kushina decided to move on. 

“Anyway, Kakashi, I want you to know that Minato and I really care about you. We, uh. If you ever need to talk to someone. We’re here for you.” Kushina was terrible at comforting people. But she was the only one around, and so she’d have to do.

He didn’t say anything. That was okay. He was a tough nut to crack, and she knew it would take more than one night to get him to talk to her.

She had nine months to keep trying. 

She sat on the futon, not saying another word until the exhausted teen finally fell asleep once again.

And when she stood up and finally left to sleep in her own bed, she made a promise to herself. She was gonna get that stubborn little shithead to open up to her, or die trying.


End file.
